Synopses & Reviews
"[A] suspense-filled page-turner." Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Sympathizer
"A touching portrait of two families bound together by a split-second decision." Attica Locke, Edgar-Award winning author of Bluebird, Bluebird
A powerful and taut novel about racial tensions in Los Angeles, following two families — one Korean-American, one African-American — grappling with the effects of a decades-old crime
In the wake of the police shooting of a black teenager, Los Angeles is as tense as it's been since the unrest of the early 1990s. But Grace Park and Shawn Matthews have their own problems. Grace is sheltered and largely oblivious, living in the Valley with her Korean-immigrant parents, working long hours at the family pharmacy. She's distraught that her sister hasn't spoken to their mother in two years, for reasons beyond Grace's understanding. Shawn has already had enough of politics and protest after an act of violence shattered his family years ago. He just wants to be left alone to enjoy his quiet life in Palmdale.
But when another shocking crime hits LA, both the Park and Matthews families are forced to face down their history while navigating the tumult of a city on the brink of more violence.
Review
"It's an extremely delicate subject matter, and Cha does a masterful job imbuing each character with nuance and care." Buzzfeed
Review
"Steph Cha fearlessly explores the duality of LA's promise and betrayal, its vision of new beginnings and the brutal divisions that cut between race and class. Cha takes her place as one of the city's most eloquent storytellers in this soul-searching illumination." Walter Mosley, Edgar-winning author of Down the River Unto the Sea
Review
"A propulsive, lacerating novel about two families caught in the turmoil of a city and nation in crisis. Fearless, insightful, and alight with a brutal compassion, Your House Will Pay is a devastating exploration of grief, shame, and deeply buried truths." Catherine Chung, author of The Tenth Muse
Review
"Steph Cha's Your House Will Pay is extraordinary, a deeply-felt and sharply-observed exploration of the ties the bind, and divide, family, community, and nation. It's moving, compelling, surprising, funny, explosive, and deeply human — an unforgettable novel." Lou Berney, author of November Road
About the Author
Steph Cha is the author of the Juniper Song crime trilogy. She's an editor and critic whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. A native of the San Fernando Valley, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two basset hounds.